...using "ps"?

Surely, it's bloody obvious that, if it comes after the end of a script/document, that it is a post script? A bit like putting "p:" before each collection of sentences to signify "paragraph" or labelling all your nouns with "n:"?

Well you do signify a new paragraph, with an indent.

I suppose what's the point in lots of things - why do we use speech marks when the French find a - perfectly sufficient. Why do the Spanish have to put ? and ! at the beginning AND end of a sentence, when we can make do with once?

It is the "immemorial custom of the service" as Jack Aubrey would say. Which is answer enough.

If it's good enough for Jack Aubrey it's good enough for anyone

<Added>

Grr. That was supposed to be a smile, not a wink.

why do we use speech marks when the French find a - perfectly sufficient

And Julie Myerson does without. Although, after reading a Julie Myerson novel, I am a fan of speech marks and anything else that makes reading much less work.

I'm wondering if PS is an indication that it was written by the writer of the letter, as soon as it was finished, not a comment made later, after it was sent and received and by someone else, IYSWIM.

<Added>

On the speech marks thing, I would love to know if it does affect the prose, though, to have it less clear what's speech and what's narrative in a bit of prose. This:

"Maxine doesn't think Joe is old enough." Jenny picks up a piece of cake. "She just wants him to go on being a toddler, I think," she said, considering how greedy it would be to eat the whole thing.

is a sort of structure that I very often write. But imagine it in a French novel:

- Maxine doesn't think Joe is old enough. Jenny picks up a piece of cake. She just wants him to go on being a toddler, I think, she said, considering how greedy it would be to eat the whole thing.

<Added>

Realise what I mean is not, whether it's confusing - clearly it is as I've got it. But would that mean that if I were reading and writing in French, I'd actually set about expressing that bit of character-in-action in a different way, either consciously or instinctively.

Anyone know what French writers think of our ""s?

Anyone know what French writers think of our ""s?

I don't like the French absence of quotation marks. It often leads to confusion, but in general I suppose they write taking that possibility into account.

Interestingly, in Du cote de chez Swann, Marcel Proust uses a mixture of the two (dashes and double quotes). I think that's probably true of other writers also but haven't time to look. He seems to use the dash at the start of each speaker's statement when there is a section of dialogue back and forth, usually single sentences, i.e. when it's easy to see that each is a new line of speech. When the speech is more interwoven with plain text, he switches to the quotes. He also uses double quotes within a dashed piece of dialogue to indicate when the speaker is quoting someone else.

Why do the Spanish have to put ? and ! at the beginning AND end of a sentence, when we can make do with once?

On the other hand, I find the Spanish use of inverted ? and ! at the beginning of the sentence (or sometimes the clause) an improvement upon our system. If you are reading aloud it ensures that you can intonate the words correctly without having first read to the end of the sentence, a question being spoken quite differently from a statement and an exclamation requiring more punch. If you don't see which is required until you've got to the end, that's a problem. Even when just reading, with a long sentence it's helpful to know from the start what kind of a sentence it is.

Chris

Yes, from another fan of the Spanish ?.

I find the Spanish use of inverted ? and ! at the beginning of the sentence (or sometimes the clause) an improvement upon our system.

Yes, me too, I think - I like knowing a sentence is a question at the beginning (same goes for putting in the ? mid-sentence, e.g. in reported speech) even if whole isn't technically a question.

When I'm making a list or some other schematic presentation I always put the ? first, so I know what status the word has:

eggs
cheese
?more butter
fruit - apples ?+raspberries

<Added>

Meant to say that it also helps because:

fruit - apples ?+raspberries

would mean something different from:

fruit - apples + ?raspberries